Lucia Ricciardi on The Diagnosis of Functional Movement Disorders
London Neuropsychoanalysis Group
Abstract: Functional Neurological Disorders represent a challenging disorder to diagnose and treat. I will discuss how a correct diagnosis of functional movement disorders should rely not on the exclusion of organic disorders or the sole presence of psychological factors but on the observation or elicitation of clinical features related to the specific movement disorder. I will also discuss how the phenomenology of the abnormal movement can help us understanding ‘how’ these symptoms are generated. Pathophysiological mechanisms will be suggested based on the understanding of symptoms production.
Bio: Lucia Ricciardi works at St. George’s Hospital and St. George’s University of London, in London, UK, as consultant neurologist and a research fellow. She has a specific clinical and research interest in movement disorders, especially in the cognitive and psychiatric aspects of these disorders. She is part of the Deep Brain Stimulation team at St. George’s hospital and she coordinates the clinic for the assessment and management of neuropsychological and psychiatric symptoms of Parkinson’s disease patients undergoing complex therapies. She was previously a clinical research fellow at the University College of London, under the supervision of Prof. Mark Edwards. She has three main research areas: 1) Emotional aspects of functional neurological disorders. 2) Cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in PD, with a particular interest in impulsive compulsive behaviour disorders in these patients. 3) Facial emotion expressivity in PD.